Abstract
Inonotus obliquus, a white-rot fungus belonging to the family of Hymenochaetaceae Donk, Hardy mushroom, is usually used in traditional Chinese medicine. We have manufactured Sweetpotato shochu Inonotus obilquus Spirits（SIS）, named Kokuhoukirishima, by soaking an extract of Inonotus obilquus in sweetpotato shochu. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of this SIS extract in mouse macrophage cells（RAW 264.7）. First, we found that the SIS extract was able to inhibit the production of a series of lipopolysaccharide（LPS）-induced inflammatory factors including iNOS, NO, COX-2, IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1 in RAW264.7 cells. We then further separated the bioactive component by a bioactivity-guided fractionation using iNOS/NO as markers. Molecular data indicated that both NF-κB pathway and MAPK pathway were involved in the inhibition from the SIS extract. Finally, FT-IR and NMR analyses indicated the major bioactive component of SIS extract to be lignin.
